(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a personal health management device, and more particularly, a personal health management device that has two-way communication ability.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Current products fall mainly into two categories: personal emergency response systems (PERS), and telehealth. The PERS systems allow users to send an alarm signal to remote caregivers in order to request assistance in an emergency. These normally consist of a mobile device wirelessly connecting to a console, which communicates to caregivers via voice calls over standard analog telephone lines. The telehealth systems are for measurements and monitoring of users' health information, such as their vital signs. These are normally connected to remote caregivers using data over the Internet or just using modems over analog telephone lines.
The disadvantages of these systems arise from the fact that they are separate systems which do not share data with each other. This creates operational difficulties and increases equipment costs. For example, vital sign measurements are taken by individual devices and the uploading of data often requires significant user interactions which is very inconvenient to the users. Another major disadvantage is that their functionalities are strictly limited to the individual applications of PERS and telehealth, although data from telehealth systems are very useful to the PERS and vice versa. For example, in the event of an emergency handled by the PERS, the telehealth data in the form of personal health records (PHR) will be needed by the emergency crew (e.g. blood type). By combining telehealth into PERS, the PHR can be displayed by the PERS equipment, or alternatively, the PERS system may automatically send together with the alert signal a pre-programmed message to the caregivers to enable access to the PHR on the network.
Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/454,714 provides an integrated health management system that combines a personal emergency response system with vital signs measurement systems. Personal alert devices are described in several U.S. Patents. U.S. Pat. No. 7,477,143 to Albert discloses a personal alert pendant that sounds an alarm. A monitor hears the alarm and sends an emergency notification. The monitor also can receive input from medical monitoring devices. U.S. Pat. No. 7,400,249 to Monroe shows a personal alarm that can be worn or carried. Radio frequency receivers provide area coverage. U.S. Patent Application 2008/0001735 to Tran describes a health care monitoring system including a wearable device and motion sensor. U.S. Pat. No. 7,477,144 to Albert shows a bedside sound monitoring unit that will send an alarm if the breathing pattern shows deviation from normal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,872,505 to Wicks et al describes a paging system that sends reminders about treatment or appointments to a patient's pager. U.S. Patent Application 2006/0154642 to Scannell shows a health monitoring system including medication reminders, monitoring, alerts, and a motion sensor at exits. U.S. Patent Application 2009/0040052 to Cameron et al discloses a motion sensor that checks at intervals during a user's active time. An alarm will sound if there is no activity. The user can send an all's well signal. If the all's well signal is not received, a help message is sent over a communications channel. U.K. Patent Application 2,348,726 to Doughty et al teaches using sensors on furniture to monitor activity. In the absence of activity, an alarm call is raised. U.S. Patent Application 2008/0117060 to Cuddithy et al teaches a wearable device that sounds an alert if it detects unusual activity. U.S. Patent Applications 2006/0055543 to Ganeeh et al discloses a monitoring center that uses motion sensors to detect a problem and alerts a caregiver.